“Well, if you can only establish dominance by pretending to be a villain, it can’t be helped, but isn’t it problematic for strange rumors to spread?”

The sisters concluded that some restraint was needed. Then they gave experienced advice about other ways to excite one’s husband.

“Stop it. Mironica is listening.”

Lenore made a shushing sound while nodding toward young Mironica who hadn’t even had her debut, let alone marriage.

“Hm? What? Did you call me?”

Though Mironica had heard all of the sisters’ conversation with a pounding heart, she pretended not to know anything.

“This will soon be necessary information for Mironica too.”

“Soon? She has years until her debutante ball, though?”

When Lenore asked, the second sister clicked her tongue.

“Are you so absorbed in your husband that you have no interest in what’s happening in the family? Mironica won’t marry after her debutante — her marriage announcement will come simultaneously with her debut.”

“It’s not that I’m not interested — how could I know when no one told me anything!”

Lenore was quite shocked by this news she was hearing for the first time. Her youngest sister who was only fourteen being engaged? This meant their father who at least waited until his children were grown before marrying them off as he pleased had rushed this time.

But why?

Lenore’s question was quickly answered.

“Who is she engaged to?”

“Prince Zig.”

“I’m not sure if the imperial family was eager or if Father took the initiative, but he’s already visited the Duke’s mansion more than five times.”

“Stop talking about that. Father has passed away. The engagement might be called off.”

Mironica was uncomfortable with the topic. The eldest sister smirked and teased that that didn’t seem likely.

“Even at a young age, a man is still a man — his gaze at Mironica is so intense, do you think the engagement will be called off?”

“Lucky you, Mironica. You’ll receive lots of love.”

When the sisters teased her giggling, Mironica couldn’t contain her frustration and splashed water at them with her hands. The sisters screamed “Kyaa!”

“Why are you angry? Since you say it’s so good, isn’t he cute and nice?”

“I don’t like it at all! The prince is just a child!”

“You’re a child too. Children suit each other.”

“What I mean is, he’s even younger than me. Do you know how old Prince Zig is? He’s only 10 years old. An age where he might still have accidents at night!”

Mironica was truly upset and got angry at her sisters. But no matter how angry she got, the married sisters weren’t scared of their younger sister at all — it felt like nothing more than a baby whining.

“At 10 years old, accidents can happen.”

“That’s true. There was a girl who had an accident at 12 years old.”

“Sister!”

The girl who had an accident at 12 years old — Mironica screamed with a bright red face.

Finally, thoroughly upset, Mironica left the large bath with her cheeks puffed out. When she continued to show her sulking face the next day, the sisters finally coaxed her by offering gifts. Just as her mood had barely improved, a visitor in the afternoon made her jaw drop again.

“I meant to attend the funeral, but there was a bridge washed out by flooding, which delayed me.”

Prince Zig had come to the Duke’s mansion. Though the pretext was attending Duke Bergis’s funeral, no one doubted that his real purpose was Mironica.

They couldn’t leave before the prince who had come to visit. The daughters of Duke Bergis, including Lenore, postponed their departure dates.

But the prince, who they thought would just see Mironica’s face and leave, showed no intention of leaving. He declared to Meric,

“I won’t leave until the engagement is finalized.”

Mironica was furious. Of course, she couldn’t openly shout “I don’t want such a little kid!” in front of the prince. Instead, she strongly insisted to Meric that she didn’t want someone younger.

Thanks to this, Meric, caught in the middle, only got a headache. If it had been their father, he would have ignored Mironica’s opinion and proceeded with the engagement.

But unlike their father, Meric cherished his sister and didn’t want her to have an unwanted engagement.

“Then can’t we just politely decline and send Prince Zig back?”

Lenore wondered. But Meric shook his head, saying it wasn’t such a simple matter.

“Prince Zig’s feelings for Mironica are sincere.”

Meric was weak to pure love. Perhaps due to the love he didn’t receive from their father, he was overly fixated on love.

‘I love you, son.’

With just those words, he would accept and forgive whatever his father did. Even if he knew it was a lie, he wouldn’t refuse. Much less could he send away Prince Zig who genuinely liked Mironica.

As if reflecting his stifled feelings of being unable to do anything either way, it rained for several days. When the rain that had fallen for four straight days finally stopped, the men felt refreshed and suddenly felt a sense of duty as masters of the Duke’s mansion.

“How about going hunting?”

Meric suggested not just to Prince Zig but to Daniel as well.

Daniel accepted immediately.

‘I think I should stop acting as a villain.’

Since learning what misunderstanding her family had from Lenore, the couple had actively tried to explain. That there was nothing at all to worry about.

The Duchess of Bergis and her daughters watched his behavior and eventually believed him, but not Meric. He still kept his distance while being wary of Daniel.

“It’s like seeing my wife right after marriage…”

Daniel suffered as an awful memory came back after a long time.

“I never hated and ran away from you that much.”

Daniel gave a bitter smile to the indignant Lenore. Not hating that much meant, in other words, that she had hated him a little.

Anyway, Meric, who had only been avoiding him, had invited Daniel to go hunting together. He thought Meric had finally decided to open his heart.

With this opportunity, let’s clear up the misunderstanding and reconcile.

Daniel thought positively as he went hunting. But the hunt soon showed signs of going badly.

The ground was muddy from the continuous rain, so much so that their feet kept getting stuck. Moreover, even though they endured the difficult walking and searched the forest, no animals could be seen as if they had all been washed away by the rain.

When the body is tired, the mind loses composure too. Though they were just panting heavily, irritation and anger showed on everyone’s faces.

“Shall we rest a moment?”

When Daniel spoke up, everyone stopped as if they had been waiting for this. Prince Zig said he urgently needed to relieve himself and temporarily left.

Only the sounds of Daniel and Meric catching their breath mixed with the silence of the quiet forest. Daniel opened his mouth trying to break the awkward atmosphere.

“Seems today wasn’t the day.”

Meric just glanced at him while biting his nails, not responding. But seeming not to completely ignore him, he took his mouth off his nails and moved his lips. Though he ended up not saying anything and went back to biting his nails.

“Is there something you want to say to me?”

Daniel asked, unable to stand it anymore. Usually he would wait patiently until Meric spoke up, but he didn’t have much patience either because he was tired.

Meric glanced at Daniel with a pale face and finally forced out his voice.

“I knew Lenore liked villains. But she doesn’t like real villains. Because she experienced something bad when she was young.”

As he quietly listened to his story, Meric’s breathing became increasingly rapid and his words faster.

“That… that was too horrible. I’ve never felt such despair towards Father as then. Simply never. Even though it didn’t happen to me, I had nightmares for days. How much must Lenore have suffered?”

Meric couldn’t keep still and paced around. It was quite concerning as he fidgeted and gradually moved toward the cliff.

“Meric.”

Though Daniel called him to come this way, Meric didn’t hear.

“What if she’s being deceived? What if Lenore is deceiving herself, believing words of love while saying it’s just acting when she’s really suffering?”

“It’s dangerous. First come this way… Meric!”

It had seemed unstable. Finally with a slip, Meric’s body tilted over the cliff. Daniel urgently grabbed his arm.

It rained for days. The ground they had walked on was muddy, and the soil on the cliff was the same. The ground Daniel was standing on collapsed and both men fell down the cliff.

They tumbled down for quite a while before finally stopping with a thud against something.

“Ugh, urgh…”

Daniel groaned feeling pain throughout his body. Especially in his right leg. It made him moan involuntarily with even slight movement.

“Meric, are you alright?”

Daniel looked around while lying on his back looking at the sky. Fortunately Meric was visible not far away.

“Urrrgh.”

Since he was making sounds, it seemed he hadn’t died instantly from a broken neck. Daniel breathed a sigh of relief and checked the path they had tumbled down.

It looked too high to climb up with his injured leg. At a glance, Meric didn’t seem able to move either, so it was a dire situation.

Their only option was for Prince Zig to return from relieving himself and find them.

“Your Highness! Prince Zig!”

Though he called out loudly, there was no response. Daniel took another deep breath and was about to call for the prince again. But then sobbing sounds came from somewhere. It was Meric.